posted 12-28-2000 02:30 PM
Ok, so I finally got the DVD player I wanted for Christmas. Now it's time to totally revamp my home theatre setup. I bought a new Sony receiver (STRDE945) that offers a mulititude of features and has both DTS & DD reproduction capabilities. I currently have a 'cheapo' JBL Flix10 center/surround combo, Cerwin Vega AT-15 mains (old but very good speakers). I just ordered a new JBL S series center channel from (www.simplycheap.com) as well as a sub (Sony SA-WM40).

The sub and center channel shoudl be here Monday or Tuesday and the receiver will be here the 4th of Jan. I plan on swapping out the cheapo JLB Flix surrounds for a pair of JBL Industrial Series 8216A's that were used as surrounds at a theatre we had in town that closed down. Wish I could have gotten my hands on the sub, but that *had* to go back

Do any of you folks out there have any first hand experience with any of the equipment I mentioned? I read many reviews from (www.audioreview.com) to help make my mind. I'm not looking to sink a bunch of money into this setup, becuase if I want to hear/see it the BEST way, I'll watch it at work...

The next thing I'll be replacing is the mains. I'm gonna have to research into it a little more before I drop a wad on mains tho... Klipsh? AR's? JBL's? Boston Acoustics? Any help?

Thanks all in advance..

------------------The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

posted 12-29-2000 02:25 PM
Jason -- That 16:9 monitor will really up the price. As an alternative, consider a Sony Wega that can show 16:9 on the regular 4:3 CRT --- it will show all the resolution available on the "squeezed" DVD formats. (Wish I had one).

posted 12-29-2000 02:38 PM
Again, Thanks for the recommendation the the WEGA. I've looked at them (not in detail) and after reading many reviews online at audioreview.com, I am no longer leaning toward the WEGA. At any rate, we have a Circuit City opening in town in the next few weeks, so it'll be time to hang out there and decide what I want....Those WEGA's are damn cool looking tho..

posted 12-30-2000 09:18 PM
I really "want" to like Sony products. I think they make really good products. My problem is reliability. Face it. Sony doesn't have a very good track record in the "quality control" department like they used to. ( I hear it's got something to do with Tin-Bismuth solder they are using... in order to get the lead out of their production process.)

Still... when I go looking at TVs and VCRs, Sony is at the top of my list. It's just that companies like Toshiba and Matsushita (the Panasonic companies as a whole) and Mitsubishi are now factoring in to my decisions.

Having said that, I will DEFINATELY stay away from Phillips / Magnavox (Owned by the same company now.) Their stuff is TERRIBLE. I call them "Maggot-Box". Far worse than Sony, quality-wise. I guess that puts Sony in the middle of the pack. They used to be at the top.

Again, that WEGA looks FINE! So do the XBRs and the XBR-2's (WEGA would classify as XBR-3 , I think.) Even the "S" and "V" models are pretty good. I'd just do a little more comparison shopping when looking at the "lower" lines.

posted 12-30-2000 10:16 PM
The only thing I don't like about the WEGAs is many I've seen have quite bad color convergence, which is noticeable in the corners of the picture. One of my friends bought one and I put up a dot pattern from Video Essentials and the 3 primary colors were so far apart from each other than one color ended up making a distinct dot in the lower right corner!

I have an XBR that I bought back in 1993 and the only feature it doesn't have that I want is the 16:9 mode.

On these WEGA TVs, be sure to turn VM off and set the sharpness properly (1/4 to 1/3 from the left end). On older Sonys, like mine, SVM is not turned off until the sharpness is run all the way down, which is actually the correct setting for it on my particular set. Video Essentials has a test pattern that can help you set the sharpness properly.

posted 12-31-2000 12:01 AM
Does your dvd player have the individual outputs for the digital sound i.e. 6 channels 6 outputs, or does it just have the coaxl or optical outputs. If it has 6 outputs then try this. If you already own a receiver that has dolby pro logic 4 channels do the following. take the left and right surround outputs and plug them into the left and right inputs of one of the componet imputs on the receiver (cd, ld, vcr). Next from this receiver run three speaker wires for left center and surround to three rear speakers. You will need to purchas an extra rear speaker for the center channel. Play the test tones from the receiver to ballance out the rear channels. Keep your other surround speakers and hook them up to your new receiver. They will be used for only four channel playback. once you get your sound balanced out for all channels put your favorite dvd with the best sound effects in. If you have Air Force One this one is perfect. Now you have full holosonic sound.

I hope that your Sony amp is built better than the one that I have. Mine is an STR-D715 with Pro-Logic, and 100 watts per channel. Just after the warranty expired, I had a channel go out. There was bad soldering all over one side of the power amp PC board. Thankfully, though, no other problems have surfaced.

I've got a 1992 27" XBR that looks great even though it was dropped before I got it. (This seems to be the way that I get my best equipment!) I had to do some major PC repairs around the flyback transformer, and replace the regulator IC on the power supply board, and install a small fan to keep the IC from cooking again, which after 7 years, it has not.

After I got it running again, I had to do a minor convergence alignment. Sonys are a breeze for me in this department. I used to align old RCA type CRT's with the 12 or so adjustments. The Sony has not drifted at all since 1993.

I hooked a DVD player up and thought that the image thru the S-video input was outstanding. Much better than the 1994 standard 27" Sony that I use for this WebTV system in my bedroom.

Good luck with the new system. I am getting access to a 400 watt JVC system very soon that will allow me to move my Sony amp over to the theater system. The Holmes will sound GREAT! (pant, pant!)

posted 12-31-2000 10:11 AM
Sean -- are you talking about professional or consumer JVC equipment? Most of the professional Sony video stuff (though I have only really dealt with the 3/4" machines...no Betacam or anything "good" like that) is pretty decent. The consumer-grade equipment seems to vary from good to below-average; I have a bottom-of-the-line Sony consumer CD player that is probably about 6-7 years old which works great.

posted 01-01-2001 11:25 PM
Bruce: Myrtle is nice in the off-season (winter). I have time to catch up on all the stuff that I let slide during the other 9 months...

Darryl: I'm using the component outputs on the DVD. I will be using Optical once the new STRDE945 gets here 1/4/01.

Sony equip. has definitely slid downhill over the last few years. They still have good stuff at decent prices. Their ES line is GREAT stuff from everything I've heard, but I'm not into paying that much for SONY. I currently have a SONY STRD-1015 Pro-logic unit which will go into the bedroom once the new unit gets here. Never had a problem with it after 5 years. I do have a SONY VCR that had a bad power supply after like 4 years..

I can only hope that I get the same satisfaction out of the new TV (whatever it may be) that I have gotten out of my Mitsubishi 27". I bought it 12 years ago as a floor model for right at $800. People thought I was CRAZY... but they have gone through two or three TV's and I still have the same one..

------------------The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

posted 01-02-2001 07:26 AM
I'll echo your endorsement of Mistsubishi Jason. I've got a 37" my dad bought at least 12 years ago. Picture is still as great as it was then (like I mean, for a TV!). It's been moved 3 or 4 times (usually by about 4 guys - heavy sucker). Great set. Don't want to jinx it, but will we get 20 years out of them?

2. wait till they figure out the best configuration for the center surround. They are making revievers with the center surround for pretty good prices ($500 - $600), but they havent figured out the best way to set it up. I read about it in some home theatre magazine, but i cant remember the name. ill have to look it up and post it later.

about Phillips, I bought one of their dvd players and havent had any problems with it.

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